Review: 'Parenthood' - 'In-Between': Don't you want somebody to love?

A review of last night's "Parenthood" coming up just as soon as I bore you with a story about Jefferson Airplane...

Continuing our occasional discussion of the "Parenthood" struggle to balance what seems realistic with what's dramatically interesting, "In-Between" was an episode continuing three stories the show has dealt with a lot the last few weeks: 1)Crosby's jealousy of Dr. Joe's increasing presence in Jabbar's life; 2)Sarah's feelings for Seth and the way they complicate her relationship with Mark; and 3)Kristina battling the various stresses that come with caring for a newborn.

In all three cases, these are stories that would realistically play out over a very long period of time for these characters, with them having the same arguments, the same internal conflicts, time and again. That's just the way adult life works. Crosby isn't suddenly going to be okay with Dr. Joe, and Jasmine isn't going to kick him to the curb because she feels bad for Crosby. There's not a pat solution here, and "Parenthood" tends to ring falsest when it wraps up problems too easily and quickly.

But at the same time, certain stories begin to feel repetitive after a while. Seth's only been back for a handful of episodes, but it feels like this particular triangle has been going on forever. The Crosby story was pretty much a mirror of last week's, only with Crosby having roughly the same conversation with Dr. Joe that he had last time with Jasmine.

That's why the Kristina story was the most wholly successful of the three, because it wasn't simply a rehash of Kristina's specific feelings from last week. There's a whole host of burdens a mother of a newborn deals with; last week, it was feeling disconnected from and unsupported by the rest of the family, and here it was feeling unsexy (especially in comparison to Adam's nubile 20something new receptionist). Same overall conflict, but enough details changed to not feel like a rerun.

Similarly, the parts of the Sarah storyline that worked best last night had almost nothing to do with Sarah (though Lauren Graham continues to do fine work), but in seeing Amber's reaction to all of this. Mae Whitman's one of the best actors the show has, and she placed this storyline across her narrow shoulders and carried it splendidly this week. The disadvantage of having this huge cast is that certain characters can get lost in the shuffle for long stretches.(*) The potential advantage is that you can take a story that seems exhausted and extend it a little longer by showing how another member of the family feels about it.

(*) When Adam caught Haddie flirting with the older musician at the party, it was the first time I'd thought about her break-up with Alex since he left. Given that they split before Nora was born, and that many weeks passed in between Nora's birth and the next episode, enough time has passed that I buy her having a stress-free flirtation with a guy at a party, but I had a definite, "Oh, right: Haddie is a person on this show" reaction for a half-second.

Drew and Amy felt like filler this week, and the Zeek/Camille stuff was mild comic relief (with the highlight being Adam's eagerness to get the hell out of the room once he realized an argument was brewing), adding up to an episode that wasn't particularly bad, but also not one of the more memorable outings so far from season 3.

Alan Sepinwall has been reviewing television since the mid-'90s, first for Tony Soprano's hometown paper, The Star-Ledger, and now for HitFix. His new book, "The Revolution Was Televised," about the last 15 years of TV drama, is for sale at Amazon. He can be reached at sepinwall@hitfix.com

That was a great scene! My wife looked at me and was like, "Are you crying?" I was luke warm about John Corbett appearing on the show as Seth because he seemed to be constantly out acted by all the regulars on the show. But the last couple episodes, I thought he put together an outstanding performance. Sorta sad to see him go, but I'm sure Seth will be back.

I agree with you. I thought the Dr. Joe - Crosby storyline was kind of forced, but I didn't like Dr. Joe's response to Crosby. Dr. Joe gave him the tickets and will be in Jabaar's life but he should focus first and foremost on his relationship with Jasmine before becomming a surrogate father to Jabaar.

Did anyone else notice the hardcore flirting between Crosby and Jasmine at the party?

I completely agree. I think its a little soon for Dr. Joe to be making such declarative statements like that to Crosby. When you have the father around who wants to be heavily involved then that comes first. If the story line was that Crosby had become sort of a lazy parent I could buy Dr. Joe's perspective, but Crosby desperately wants his son in his life and as such that must be respected without question by any potential step parent.

Ken, Yup I noticed it, but I didn't understand it as it felt so out of left field that I had to brush it aside. Now she wants to get back with Crosby because he's being successful and living his dream? Right on the heels of telling him Dr. Joe's here to stay? Nope, I can't come up with a good reason for her flirting with him.

Actually, as someone whose mother dated guys who didn't really care to have my sister and I around, I appreciated Dr. Joe's sentiments and actions. By his giving the tickets to Crosby, he was sending a clear message "You are his father and I am not going to take that from you. I respect that. However, I like this kid and his mother. I'm not going anywhere."

My father married a lovely woman who never tried to replace my mom. And she always respected that we were an important part of my dad's life. Furthermore, I always knew that she 100% had my back if I ever needed anything.

Maybe I am wrong, but Dr. Joe seems to have his head screwed on straight.

Ugh, I accidentally saw the "scenes from next week's parenthood." They were ridiculously spoiler-y. And sort of jolted me out of the sweet ending of this one. Have these people no respect?!?

Before that though... like Beckles, I bawled through those last scenes from Joe giving Crosby the tickets, to Seth and Sarah's goodbye, followed by Amber opening up the birthday cards. Incredible performance from Mae as always. The more realistic story would probably be Seth sticking around anyway, believing he really can be what Sarah's always wanted him to be, and that he can rebuild a relationship with his kids (and maybe he can and even should, espec on the latter, and I still am not crazy about Mark, I just don't feel what others feel there) and I don't want to see John Corbett go. But all in all, I'm glad they are having this play out gently, and not in the "inevitable relapse and destruction of Sarah's life" story, which I did not feel like going through the heartbreak of.

Overall, I thought it was nicely done. The Jefferson Airplane dance party with Grandma and Grandpa was fun. Poor Kristina though, just gives and gives and gives to her family (and, ahem, husband), and takes all the blame, and gets so little help in return. I hope they point this out more, especially with what a loser Adam's been on the co-parenting front. At least we saw Haddie change a diaper this week...

Yes--certainly don't want anyone else to get subjected to that. I just had to vent my irritation. I wish shows had more control of these things...I think I've heard that Matt Weiner gets veto power over the ones for Mad Men, making them quite benign. I know, as Renton points out below, they just want to get viewers, but an audience gotten that way is really not the right audience for this show.

Lots of Adam bashing on his role as a parent the past few episodes. Let's not forget, his role is to work and provide for the family, and for him the work is magnified because Kristina is not working (which makes her role caring for their newborn) AND he's the sole partner in a start-up business (requiring much effort on his part). I'm sure he'd be taking more of an active role with Nora if he still had his old job.

I'm responding specifically to Al's comment because that is one of the very reasons I hate the role of Kristina. And it's personal.

My husband has been an entrepreneur our entire relationship -- working the crazy hours (during our honeymoon, even), weird money flows in/out of our account and ridiculous travel (while my first kid was a newborn and even while said first kid was a baby and I was pregnant with his gestating sister :-)

I am so frustrated with the role of Kristina because at one point, they portray her as this fast-tracking former professional who can even fly right back into that role while pregnant, yet then they push her into a character who can't seem to get her act together when her family really needs it. Eh. I've been over her for awhile now. Sadly, I am afraid they will write in a redeeming quality of post-partum depression. Sigh.

Alan, I love your spoiler policy on previews! I hate them (fortunately I watch everything online--got rid of cable long ago--and they don't seem to show them online), and it drove me crazy that over at the pity-free place, their policy was that previews do not count as spoilers.

BTW I also love the blog title "What's Alan Watching" as my name is Alan too. :)

I liked the episode a lot, and was surprised how Amber stepped up to protect her mom. Of course, it's unrealistic that Seth would step aside, and him being the good guy here will lead to his White Knight return next season after Mark is out of the picture.

The Harry Potter product placement was cringe worthy.

I don't think Jasmine would be so quick to let the new B/F play dad. Seems like that tends to be a protective thing from single moms. Well, at least according to other tv shows and movies.

Loved this episode! I don't always love the version of Kristina they depict, I usually empathize with her. Last night, however, the portrayl rang so true to me I was overwhelmed. Monica Potter was so raw, so frustrated, and so tired, and she wasn't written as a naggy and controlling. The scene at the party rang so true to me, I was overwhelmed. Between that and Mae Whitman's performance, I was sobbing.

Yeah she is finally being given an arc from her perspective. We have seen her working and what she is like in that environment. However, now we are seeing her perspective on parenthood (hey that's the name of this show!) and how she deals with her daily life which is out of the work place. The plot line she is in right now with the assistant and Adam seems really too soapy but let's hope the Parenthood writers can take it out this area. They did a good job showing us about "what introducing an element like that" (because that is all she is right now I hope she becomes a real character and not Gaby 2.0) does to a marriage where the couple just had a baby and brought it back to show us how the main characters feel and deal with it so I think there is hope that they will do something interesting. Although I didn't like a lot of what was being set up in this episode.

Just coming out of lurking to say that that scene with the breast milk stain, however, did NOT strike me as real. As a new mother myself, who would go to a party without one of the many brands of breast pads they sell to absorb any leakage? No one, that's who. It felt like forced drama, and something that would never really happen.

I think there should be a drinking game where you do a shot of Jaeger everytime the camera cuts to Sam Jaeger, just to remind us he's in the show. And you do two shots if he says a line. In some episodes, you wouldn't even need to drink.

Loved this episode but I guess I have a different opinion than you. My favorite storyline was definetely Sarah and Seth. I finally understood Sarah feelings and the connection she felt to Seth. Their good bye was really moving and I could feel every emotion on Graham´s face. The disappointment but knowing it´s for the best. So great. And the birthday cards totally killed me.

On the other hand, I don´t really feel Adam and Kristina this season. I care less and less for them.

Jana--your point about Adam and Kristina makes me realize we haven't seen much of Max lately (mostly just his Jabbar-fight and fallout I think...). Adam and Kristina were at their best as parents dealing with that situation. I do appreciate how they've shown the exhaustion of caring for an infant in Kristina recently, but there has been a noticeable shift from last season. But hard to give deep-plots to everyone about everything all the time. Ditto on the powerful subtlety of Graham.

I've felt less engaged in the Adam and Kristina storylines this season, but for me it hasn't been about having more or less Max.

It seemed like in prior seasons, Adam was much more engaged in his family life, we had moving scenes of him struggling to connect with his kids and stay connected with his wife. But so far this season, he's been remarkably disconnected from his wife and kids (especially remarkable because of the new baby). This episode at least gave us some moments between Adam and Kristina (though I don't know that I like where the show is going with them...hopefully I'm wrong)

Don't know if this has been brought to your attention before, but every so often (1-2 times a week?) the RSS feed dumps allll the articles from earlier in the week simultaneously -- even though they already came through the feed when they were originally published. Pretty annoying. Maybe you can ask the tech guys to take a look? Thanks.

I've noticed that happening for awhile now too. But at least the alphabet is being used to write a word, and not symbols interspersed with letters. Watch, now that I wrote that it will start happening again. :) (I'm using Safari on a Mac with Leopard for what it's worth.)

I am a huge fan of Mae Whitman (and Lauren Graham), but this week, I felt they dumped a really rotten plot point at Whitman's feet. I felt the scene with her and her dad was forced. I didn't believe she would approach him in that way, and felt her sobbing was the only way to play an impossible scene. she did it impeccably, but it was a terrible scene. I felt the writers needed the plot point so they gave to their most able actor. It really bugged me, as it seemed so inconsistent to her character and so overblown.

I was really bothered by Mae Whitman's scene with her dad. I did not buy that she would approach him so vulnerably and inarticulately. I felt the writers required the scene to move Corbin out, and saddled Whitman with it. She handled it admirably, but I felt it was inconsistent to her character and overblown as a scene. It bothered me because I admire her work so much--it felt like a disservice to her.

I found this episode to be very moving and well done. One of the better recent episodes, in my opinion. The Drew/Amy stuff was really cute and nostalgically awkward. Loved how Crosby spoke his mind to Dr. Joe but that Dr. Joe gave it back to him in a sense. Mae Whitman is truly awesome and Monica Potter had a terrific week. Loved this ep.

Doesn't Lorelai realize that Chris will never be her man? All it will do is hurt Rory. Rory can see that Lorelai is trying to make it work with Mr. Medina but Chris just keeps on getting in the way. Maybe if they can get Luke back from Glee and Shameless she may find true love.

Sarcasm aside, I felt this plot line was rushed. I do have to say that Lauren Graham's acting has been amazing. The scene after the kiss you could see her process so many emotions and thoughts it was brilliant.

@pamelajaye I am not sure what you interpreted from my quote but this is my explanation for what I wrote and a response to one of the things I think you weren't sure about.

Sarah Watson writer on Parenthood is a Gilmore Girls obsessive and it shows.

Lorelai= SarahRory= AmberMr. Max Medina= Mr. Mark CyrChris= SethLuke= Jim Kazinsky Sarah's old man barista boyfriend/poet (actor Mike O'Malley played this character at the same time he played Burt Hummel on Glee he was on the writing of the staff of Showtime's Shameless).

The stories play differently as the tone is so wildly different. The stories themselves seem oddly familiar...

I have a feeling Crosby is going to sleep with the receptionist. Now that he's single, what's stopping him from sleeping with another one of Adam's hot employees (though she's his own employee too this time - which makes the situation tricky).

I think the show is doing great work on the Jasmine, Crosby, Dr. Joe storyline. Finally, I can see Jasmine has a reasonable point of view on something. What makes it interesting is that Crosby's point of view is also valid. Tough situation all around.

As for Adam and his receptionist, I get that Adam is attracted to her and is a bit uncomfortable around her, but I don't think she'll be interested in him. She's a young girl who has a big interest in the local band and music scene. He's a stuffy, married, middle aged, father of 3. IMO, she would be much more interested in Crosby who is younger, available, also into music, and single.

The Dr Joe storyline annoyed me to some extent, because: how long, exactly, has be been dating Jasmine? It seems pretty early in their relationship for him to be inserted into Jabbar's life. But I fault Jasmine for allowing that, more than Dr. Joe.

On a positive front, I believe this is the first time we've seen Crosby address a conflict as an adult, head-on. (and without whining or a temper tantrum) So, that's some progress.

I loved this episode. The scene with the birthday cards at the end had tears streaming down my face (and I'm a guy who, like Crosby, loves football, dammit! LOL).

A couple interesting things I've been observing in reactions to this ep is that a lot of people seem to think Seth's job in Tahoe is not for real, and that he's actually just headed out of town with no prospects. I took it as more that he called up his uncle and hit him up for a job after he talked to Amber (that scene when she talked to him was amazing btw). I hope it's not that he's totally screwing himself over that way, as I also find myself disagreeing with many other commenters in that I do see Seth as sympathetic and redeemable.

The other thing I've been struck by is how many people express the opinion that Dr. Joe should not be spending time with Jabbar. Apparently when you have kids you're supposed to keep the people you date secret until, what, you're engaged or something? I find this bizarre, and it's interesting to know that so many people would feel that I committed an egregious sin with my kids after their mom and I split up (as did she: neither of us waited all that long to introduce them to our new significant others). I do think Crosby's desire to take Jabbar to his FIRST football game is valid; however, after that Dr. Joe should feel free to take him to as many as he likes (as long as it is not during his visitation with Crosby of course).